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Sometimes there’s a hole in the bottom of your boat--and, you think, I’ll just patch it up real quick. But, then, the patch tears and the hole gets bigger. And, another hole appears. You try to patch them both, but your boat is starting to take on more and more water. You’re losing sight of the individual holes because there’s so much water in the boat. Your boat is starting to sink.

That’s what life is like when we have challenges arise and we try to solve them without looking at our lives holistically. We can’t patch one hole and expect the whole boat to survive because that hole might be caused by a deeper issue that isn’t being addresses.

One problem becomes many

This is what I’ve realized over this past week. For over a week now, I’ve been sick with crippling stomach issues. They’re rippling out and making everything harder--work, relationships, eating, exercising. Everything. And, I had to admit, there probably isn’t one problem, one thing that’s causing these stomach issues.

Assess your environment

I went to the doctor and was met with an approach that looked a little like--this could be anything, so we’re going to start paying attention to everything. I’ve had to diligently track my eating, exercise, stress, emotions, nausea. You name it and I’m tracking it in an app on my phone.

I’ve gone back to therapy. I’m taking medication. I seeing a GI specialist next week. I’m following up with my primary care physician. I’m thinking about what I’m eating and trying to exercise even though I feel miserable sometimes.

It can be so overwhelming to deal with this all at once. But, then I remember how bad I feel, and I’m willing to do anything not to feel this way anymore. I have to remind myself that it only got this overwhelming because I wasn’t taking a holistic approach before. I was trying to patch individual holes, and that hasn’t served me well.

Benefits of a holistic approach

Consider this your friendly reminder to take care of your boat! Take care of the vessel you live in. Normally I’m thinking about mental and emotional health, but our physical health can affect our mental health big time. When your body is suffering, your mind suffers, too. Everything is out of order.

Taking care of your body and looking at your problems with a wider lens will serve you well. When we address issues by looking at everything that could be related and not just what we see right in front of us with a microscope, we allow ourselves to be better cared for. We strengthen our foundation by strengthened the individual aspects of our lives.

What are you currently ignoring that needs your attention?

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